"So what did you do to piss her off?"

Jack grimaced at the question. It was already the following morning. As he had expected, he didn't sleep very well the previous night. It seemed just as he was beginning to get tired enough for rest, everyone else was starting to wake up. It was a very groggy and somewhat grumpy Jack that rolled out of his sleeping bag and hit the path that morning.

Luckily, he didn't have to lead point. Nikias still took that honor with Elektra by his side. Behind them was Heron, who happened to be entertaining Vera with stories from his younger years. The young woman was eating up the stories handily and laughing as she went. Just a few feet behind them was Kat, close enough to listen to the king but far enough away not to interact. Bringing up the rear were Jack and Greg.

Kat hadn't said a single thing since she left him at the fire last night. She was almost content to pretend like he wasn't even there, often not even resting her eyes on him in her anger. Jack couldn't blame her. Frankly, he'd be pissed too if someone who he barely knew had called out his intentions. Yet after having a private talk with Heron that morning about her backstory, the king was more willing to trust her and give her a chance. Little help that did for his current reputation with her.

Greg elbowed him in the side again. "She just looked back at you, and if looks could kill, you'd be a dead man."

Jack's eyes went off the forested area to the left of the path and looked back to the Kat. He met her eyes briefly, seeing the cold expression inside before she resumed her attention in front of her. He couldn't figure out why it bothered him so much that she was upset with him. He was used to giving orders, and a good portion of the time, they weren't popular ones. Even when they first entered the Vector, a good portion of the crew had almost mutinied, no doubt upset over his command for them to sail here.

There was just something about Kat that pulled at him. Every time she pretended he wasn't there or looked daggers at him was another swipe to his heart. It was becoming tiresome, and he wished he could take back the way he phrased his conversation with her.

"What did you do? Make a move on her last night?" asked Greg. "Try to crawl into her sleeping bag?"

Jack shook his head. "We had to have a tough conversation last night." He filled Greg in on the earlier talk with Heron and his suspicions about the beautiful Galician woman.

Near the end of the story, Greg let out a low whistle. "Seems like a no-win situation. Glad it was you and not me."

"Thanks a lot," said Jack sarcastically as their chatter earned another dissatisfied look from Kat.

Even without the distraction from Kat, the day went by quickly. The path had continued to narrow and soon they were steadily going upwards instead of bobbing up and down hills and valleys. It was around late afternoon that the forested area off to the left of the trail started to get heavier, with larger and taller trees blocking off a good portion of the area inside.

"So it begins," said Nikias ominously. "This is the Dark Forest."

"I hate to say it," said Heron. "But it looks quite darker than I remember from years ago."

Heron wasn't exaggerating. Almost all light was cut off from the inside by the dense canopy overhead. A thick barrage of limb and leaves extended out from every tree leaving little room for light to penetrate through those obstructions. What was left underneath was sparse. There were no bushes, flowers, or any other growth underneath. There just wasn't enough light to sustain it.

"I was hoping that the dark part of the name was just something people called it," said Greg while taking it all in. "I didn't really expect it to be so sinister looking."

"We should get this trap set up," said Jack. "At least now while we have the element of surprise. Who knows how quickly they might discover that we're here."

The rest of the group nodded and stepped into the forest as the sun was beginning to go down. Thankfully, the entire wooded area was not all shrouded in darkness, and they were able to find a spot some distance from the road where just enough of the canopy broke to allow a little light through. It was here that Jack stopped the group.

"This looks like a good place. The land slopes up from here and there's enough of a gap in those trees to allow our smoke to come through," said Jack. "If anyone's paying attention to the sky, this spot will be seen for miles around."

"Let's get to work then," said Heron. "We need to gather some wood for the fire, and then once it's burning, we need to make ourselves scarce."

"How about the men gather the wood?" suggested Elektra. "While the rest of the women get started on camp. Once we're in place, the men can get to their hiding places."

Without any further discussion, both sexes went about their assigned tasks. The men gathered enough wood to start a great bonfire while the women recreated camp. There wasn't much to talk about while they readied their own trap, and everyone tried to quiet their own level of nerves while they waited.

Soon enough, the fire was roaring and sending smoke billowing through the top of the canopy as the women sat to eat a meager dinner.

"That should do it," said Jack finally. "Let's get hidden."

*****

It was close to midnight when the steady crunch-crunch-crunch of leaves began to signal the approach of Melitos and his men as they stepped carefully through their wooded surroundings.

"Should be just over here," said Baxos as he crept closer, leading their little group of five. "The smoke was coming from this way."

"This better be good," growled Melitos. "I had things to attend to tonight that you're interrupting me from." Melitos didn't clarify that the thing he was being interrupted from was his whore Mia's sweet ass. Still, he should either be sleeping or fucking, not creeping around the forest as he was right now.

"You'll see," promised Baxos. "This is worth it. I wouldn't have dragged you all the way out here if it wasn't."

The two men walked in the lead of the rest of the thieves, covering their approach as much as they could. They didn't have to cover much for it was the middle of the night. Much of the forest was already concealed even in the middle of the day. Yet, Baxos seemed to be leading them to a place where the light was beginning to shine brighter. It was with an exaggerated motion that he beckoned them behind a great maple tree and pointed to their target.

"Over there. What do you think of that?" asked Baxos with a wide grin on his face.

Melitos looked around the tree and found himself slowly breaking out in a similar smile. Just about twenty yards away from them was a campsite. But it was no ordinary campsite. He counted one . . . two . . . three women at the camp. As much as he craned his neck to look all around, he couldn't spot any men. They appeared to be alone.

"How did you find them?" asked Melitos in a whispered tone.

"You can see that smoke from halfway up the hill," said Baxos as he pointed toward their fire. "We just did a little investigating and we found them here. All alone," he said with an evil grin.

Melitos took in each woman. Only one appeared to be on guard duty, a small and lithe-looking redhead who was sitting upright against the fire. On each of her sides were two blonde women, something that immediately made Melitos grin maliciously.

"There's blondes! I haven't seen a blonde in this land in years," he said anxiously while rubbing his hands.

"Three of them means plenty to go around for the rest of us too," said Baxos while he unsheathed his knife from his belt. "The boys could use a little action too, couldn't you men?" The three men behind him grinned eagerly, nodding their heads at the prospect of easy sex.

"How do you want to do this?" asked Baxos. "Spread out and surround them?"

"Yes, that's a good plan," said Melitos as he scratched at his chin. "This is all a little strange though. Why would they be alone? Surely they know what lurks in the forest at night?"

"Bah," scoffed Baxos with a dismissive wave. "Look at them. They're not from Sorella with those features so maybe they don't know. Travelers, I bet you. Just looking for a little shelter from the road but don't know enough not to go into the old, dark forest. We'll teach them a lesson they won't forget, won't we?"

Melitos grinned again. "That we will. Let's take our places. On my order, we'll attack."

With that, the five of them split up. Melitos stayed in his spot near the tree while Baxos and another man went off along the right flank of the campsite. The other men went along the left flank. Soon enough, Melitos flashed a signal consisting of using a pocket mirror to catch the reflection off the fire to signal the attack. He hesitated whether or not to lead with his musket but then again, how dangerous could a small group of women be? He pulled his knife instead and began to advance.

"Beautiful night for a fire," he said out loud as the five of them emerged from the surrounding trees. The redhead was the first to notice, jumping upright with a look of panic on her face and then running for her pack. She was too slow as Baxos reached it first and kicked it out of the way. She recoiled quickly with a yell and turned her back to the fire as the men surrounded on all sides. Quickly, she woke her companions, still ignorant to the danger before them.

"Vera! Kat! Wake up!" she yelled. The two blonde women were on their feet in a hurry and moved rapidly back against the fire as the thieves came into view.

"Well, aren't you three pretty," said Melitos with a lust-filled grin. The girls flinched away from him as he got closer and the rest of the men closed the ring. There was nowhere for them to go.

"Stay away," warned the redhead as she found the space behind her rapidly diminishing. Soon they would be right up against the great fire.

"Isn't that cute," said Melitos with a laugh. "It looks like they're a little frightened. What do you think, Baxos?"

"Seems to be that way," said the man with another laugh as he reached out to grab a piece of Vera's hair. Vera quickly pulled away from him, earning another chuckle.

"What would you three, pretty, young things be doing out here on a night like this? Out for an evening stroll? Don't you know these woods are dangerous?"

"Leave us be. Leave at once," said the redhead more seriously. "If you leave now, we'll consider letting you live."

It was more than Melitos could take. He roared with laughter as did the rest of the men in the group. Struggling to regain his breath, he wiped away tears of laughter from his eyes.

"You're forgetting one thing, missy," said Melitos. "There's five of us and three of you. You would be so lucky if we let you live!"

The redhead crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly.

"Oh, a fighter, I see," said Melitos. "I like the ones with a little extra pep in them. Do you know why? I like to see if I can be the one to fuck it all out of you! I'll be looking forward to breaking you in specifically. Your ass will be on fire when I'm done with you, I can promise you that!"

"Somehow, I doubt that," said a voice from above them. Melitos whipped around to find a man hanging by a rope and sliding down from a nearby branch rapidly. The man was holding an odd-shaped gun and was pointing right at the rest of the men.

"Scatter! Quickly!" shouted Melitos as each of the thieves began to bolt in different directions. Almost immediately, the sound of gunfire opened up all around them. A quick glance around told him that this man wasn't alone as others began to descend from hiding places up in the trees. It was like the trees were dropping soldiers instead of leaves and all around him, Melitos heard the telltale sounds of bullets whizzing by. Every so often, a scream would pierce the air, but it wasn't from any of the women nearby. The scream was from men, a ghastly yell that chilled the very blood in his veins.

Melitos found himself hiding behind one particularly large tree a good hundred yards from the campsite. He sprinted the entire way, leaping around pulled-up roots and doing his best not to become a target for the ambush left behind him. Soon enough, just about all the gunfire had stopped which meant one of two things—either the men had gotten away, or they were now all dead and he was the only one alive.

"I know you're back there," cried out a male voice from behind him. "Surrender now and I'll let you live."

Melitos gritted his teeth. How he wished he had his musket right now, but it was still sitting against the tree from where they planned their attack. It was too risky to go back to get it. All he had was his knife and the darkness of the forest to protect himself. If he could just run fast enough, perhaps he could get away from the attackers.

He wasted not another second before sprinting away as fast he could. Hearing the sound of a male voice directly behind him, Melitos did what he could to zigzag from tree to tree. Just when he thought he was getting away, he stepped out from one tree and heard a loud bang from a short distance away.

He yelled out in pain as the bullet pierced his side and fell headfirst into the ground, tasting the grass below as his body hugged the ground. A blistering pain erupted all along his entire left side and paralyzed his legs. He managed to crane his head to see a man walking toward him, gun trained and quickly closing the distance. Melitos did everything he could to crawl away but there was no hope now. He was finished.

Melitos cried out in pain as the man used his foot to roll him over, clutching at his side as he came face-to-face with a blond-haired man with angry eyes.

"I'm Jack Easterbrook," said the man while he pointed the gun at Melitos' face. "You picked the wrong party to attack."

*****

Jack grabbed the heavily bleeding man by the legs and began to pull him back to the camp. As he moved, the man hung limply, making small cries of pain every time they went over a rock or a jagged branch laying on the ground. As he neared the fire, Jack let the man down easily and pointed his gun back at him.

Surprisingly, the man began to laugh. "You h-hardly need that anymore, wouldn't y-you say?" he said while crudely gesturing to Jack's rifle.

"That depends on how much you want to talk," said Jack with a simple shrug. "You're the only one left now it appears." Jack pointed to a small stack of bodies of the other four men. The one that had been identified as Baxos was closest to the fire, a horrified look on his face despite no longer being alive.

The man spit out a wad of blood. "Fools. That s-stupid, stupid fool Baxos. I should have realized this was too good to be true."

"You're Melitos, aren't you? You're the local thief," said Jack.

Melitos managed a bloody smile. "In the flesh."

Jack tilted his head. "Not for much longer, I assume."

Melitos gaze swept across the rest of the group, finally resting on the three women. At this point, Elektra had recovered her rifle, and she was staring at Melitos with an I-told-you-not-to-mess-with-us look. Kat and Vera stood a short distance away as well, also keeping an eye on Melitos.

"Which one of them is yours?" asked Melitos while gesturing to the girls. "I'm sure you probably like the b-blondes too, right?"

Jack put the tip of his rifle against Melitos' wounded side. "Keep talking like that and I'll make sure this gets much worse for you."

Melitos grimaced and inched away before he began to chuckle once again. "I'm already dead. There's not much you can do to me now. I'll be with my ancestors soon enough."

"I can make the journey there incredibly difficult if you don't answer my questions," snarled Jack while pressing into the man's wound again. "I know you work for Barak."

"Is that a q-question or a statement?" coughed Melitos.

"What was the plan? Were you on the lookout for us? Were you supposed to keep Barak's flank empty of anyone who might interfere with his plan?"

Melitos sneered. "I got paid good money for what I do. Sure, Barak p-paid me to hassle anyone who came through this land. But that was j-just the latest job from him. I've worked with him plenty in the last few years."

"Doing what?" pressed Jack.

"Relieving anyone of any extra g-gold they had," said Melitos. "Killing those that weren't n-needed any more. That kind of thing. Before Barak, I've been employed by other u-unscrupulous men too. All looking to get rich by relieving the wealth from the unlucky and taking it from them."

"What was your intention with the girls? What were you going to do with them?"

Melitos howled with laughter as his face began to pale. "Why they were going to be my personal whores. I was going to give the ones I have now to the men as a great job for services r-rendered but they were going to be my new girls. Especially that redhead. I bet she's got a nice, tight asshole."

Jack smacked the tip of his rifle against Melitos' face. He howled once more in pain and spat out another wad of blood. "Like that one, I take it? No matter. It appears g-good, old Melitos will get no more whores from now on. Maybe in the afterlife."

Jack bent down and took the man's tunic in his hands. "Where is Barak? How close is he to Mount Tarpeious? When did you see him last?"

Melitos head swung backwards limply. "T-too many q-questions. World spinning," he muttered as a stream of blood sprung forth from his mouth.

Jack smacked his hand lightly across the man's face, trying to buy him one more moment of lucidity before he died. Melitos' eyes had already glazed over before they became focused back on Jack's once again. "S-saw him two days ago. P-passing through. Horses and wagons," whispered Melitos.

"How many men did he have with him?"

"N-no more than ten," said Melitos. Jack wiped some of the blood from the man's mouth before asking the last question.

"Who is Barak working for? Who is he taking this gold to?"

Melitos began to shake his head lightly. "No idea. W-wouldn't tell me that. Don't know."

Melitos' body began to stiffen and he clutched at Jack's arms in distress. His eyes went wide one final time before he looked back to Jack. "Goodbye, Jack Easterbrook."

With those final words, his body went limp, and he fell flat against the ground. Shockingly enough, his eyes didn't close and remained wide set in an expression of fearful surprise.

Jack took a deep breath as the man passed in front of him before straightening up and facing the rest of the group. All of them were watching him, waiting for his next words.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about Melitos and his band of thieves much longer," said Jack before wiping his hands clean of the man's blood.

"Couldn't happen a moment too soon," said Greg with a limber stretch. "My ass was getting tired of sitting on that branch."

"This tells us plenty more about Barak though," said Heron while looking at the pile of dead men. "He's used to purchasing muscle to get his way. We'll need to be careful moving forward. Melitos and his band may not be the only obstacles that he'll seek to put in our path."

"At least we're gaining on him," said Jack. "We're now only two days behind him. They can't be going very fast through the mountains, even with the wagons and horses. If we keep up the same pace, there's a chance we can catch him."

"We'll have to keep up pace," said Heron. "Even two days is more than enough time for him to take the treasure from the temple and get moving again."

"It's going to be rough going from here on out though," interrupted Nikias. "As soon as we get out of the Dark Forest, we'll be out of the foothills. We'll start our ascent of the mountain soon enough, possibly late in the day tomorrow. We may find that we have to slow down to get up the mountain carefully."

"We'll go as fast as we can, no more or less," said Jack. "Either way, the promising news is that we're gaining on them."

"So we'll be out of this forest in the morning then?" asked Elektra, giving a weary look to the surrounding trees.

Nikias nodded. "Yes, the bulk of the forest runs perpendicular to the trail. We just have to make our way back to the trail and it'll be behind us by midmorning."

"That's great," she said with a relieved look. "This place gives me the creeps. These five didn't help that at all either," she said while pointing to the dead men.

"Let's get these bodies away from here," said Jack as he gestured to Greg to help him. "We'll get a watch set up right now, so we can get some rest for what remains of the night. Then we can be back on the path at first light tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Vera with a sleepy smile.

*****

It was an exhausted group that hit the path the next morning. It wasn't so much the fact that they'd been up past midnight to set and spring the trap for Melitos, and that they were up at dawn to continue the journey to Mount Tarpeious. Rather, the sheer adrenaline of laying the trap, sparking the fight, and interrogating Melitos had kept them all awake longer than they should've been. For that reason, the entire group moved at a slower pace that morning than any other.

Another thing that worked against them was that they'd now reached the foot of the mountain. Near midday, they arrived at the top of the last foothill before finding the lonely mountain in front of them. To see the mountain so close up was awe-inspiring as it was much bigger than it looked just a few days ago when they were still a good distance out. This climb would be an incredible challenge, and Jack knew the hardest part of the journey would now be starting.

For Jack at least, the ascent didn't start off too bad. His wounds had largely healed from his fight with Daimanos, and a good portion of his stamina had been rebuilt on the trip. The climbing was still a challenge, but it no longer left him out of breath like it did in the days following the battle. In truth, most of them struggled with the grade of the mountain, taking it as easy as they could along the windy, rock-filled path that led to the top. For one person in particular, the ascent was not as much of a physical demand as it was for the others.

"Ah, this reminds me of the war," said Greg as they climbed up a decent grade at the foot of the mountain. "One battle in particular. It feels just like I'm there again."

"I'm glad you're having fun," said Jack sarcastically as the Marine eagerly limbered up the trail. "What battle were you in that you had to climb a mountain?"

"Were you part of the Battle of Hoomda in the Desert War?" asked Greg.

"Nope, I was stationed out of Aberdeen during that one," said Jack.

"That was a hell of a battle, let me tell you," said Greg. "We unloaded from our transports and climbed up that mountain by the sea on the coast of Ruthenia. My entire regiment did it in just six hours in total darkness. We came roaring down on those bastards just as the sun was beginning to rise."

"I remember hearing about that part in particular," said Jack. "I didn't know you were there personally."

Greg's chest puffed up in pride. "Damn right. We killed so many Ruthenians that their army couldn't get away fast enough. From there it was just a short jaunt to the backdoor of their capitol and there you have it, war's over."

"So climbing these mountains is making you relive that battle again, eh?" said Jack with a smile.

"You bet your ass," said Greg while chuckling. "That was the hour of my finest glory. And to think those poor bastards struggled along in the Ruthenian desert for over a year, and we were the group to take the capitol. I bet it rightly pissed them off!"

"Oh, it did," said Jack while they crossed around a jagged corner. "I heard from some old army contacts how much they disliked doing all the work just to have the Marines steal the show."

Greg grinned. "Steal the show? Hell, we were the show!"

Both men laughed to themselves for a few minutes before noticing that the rest of the group in front of them had stopped. At the very head, Nikias and Heron were bent over looking at something just off the path. A quick wave from the king had the rest of them eager to catch up. As soon as he was close enough, Jack could see they were looking at a dead horse. From the way the flies were still around the carcass and the smell, it had only been dead for a day or two.

"What kind of heartless person would subject a horse to this kind of trail?" asked Vera as she turned away from the beast.

"One that had no other options," said Heron. "It has to be one of Barak's."

"This is the trail they would've used," said Nikias. "And I'm sure those horses were under extra strain carrying all that gold."

"They weren't meant for such a narrow and rocky path." said Heron before looking down and examining the horse. "Look at this." He pointed to the horse's front leg. "It's clearly broken."

"Barak would've had no choice. The only question was whose horse was it? And I wonder if it was part of the team that carried the wagon," wondered Jack.

"At least the beast hasn't been dead that long," said Heron. "We're gaining on them. Let's get moving again!"

After leaving the dead horse behind, all of them once against split up into groups to walk. Seeing that they were closing in on Barak, Heron requested another gun up front just in case they would be close enough to ride the tail of the minister. For that reason, Greg and Elektra acted as the eyes of the group, going first in line while Jack brought up the rear. Between them, Nikias and Heron were not far from the front as well, serving as a secondary line of observation for the main two.

Behind them walked Kat and Vera, quickly becoming fast friends due to their shared Galician ancestry and similar ages. Jack walked a few paces behind them and only caught snippets of their conversation. For the most part, Kat had once again decided to ignore him, and this time, she didn't even bother to shoot him a dirty look. It was almost like he didn't exist at all.

He was just about used to it when to his surprise, he noticed that Kat had begun to drift back to where he was at the end of the group. For the most part, Vera had sped up to walk with the others, leaving the two of them firmly on their own. As soon as Kat was next to him, her gait fell in easily with his even though she kept silent for a few moments. It wasn't hard for him to tell that something was on her mind, something that she wanted to get out, and so he was silent until she found the right words to do so.

He didn't have to wait very long.

"What you did last night was really great, Jack," Kat said quietly. "The whole plan with Melitos and trying to bait them into the attack. It really worked out well."

Jack nearly stopped in his tracks, surprised that she began the conversation like that. Actually, he was surprised she'd started a conversation at all. He'd begun to wonder if he'd caused some terminal damage to their friendship the night before last.

"I'm just glad it worked out," he said before turning to look at her. Her blue eyes were on him already and watching him intently. "I was half-afraid we'd miss our chance and have to leave with them still behind us."

"Well, luckily for us, it seems your bait appealed to their more baser instincts," said Kat with a small smile.

"With all that time spent in the forest with a bunch of other men, I was willing to bet that they probably had one thing on their mind," said Jack with a chuckle. "Especially once they saw all of you, it would be too big of a target for them to pass that up."

"I'm just glad you reacted when you did. I was getting scared for a moment when they were right in front of me, and I could feel the fire against my back," said Kat. "Honestly, it brought back the memory of the attack the other day."

"Sorry to do that to you," said Jack. "I wanted to make sure they were close enough that they couldn't just scatter on us. We could have easily lost Melitos that way."

"Had you not found him and cut him down with your shooting," interrupted Kat. "You're a good person to have when things go wrong, do you know that?"

"You should tell that to my crew," said Jack acidly. "Sometimes I think I lead them into more messes than I do victories."

Kat nodded. "The mark of a good leader is someone who can self-reflect on their own failures and change moving forward. If that idea had already occurred to you, perhaps you're not as bad as you think."

"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it," said Jack sheepishly. "Maybe if we ever have a chance of completing our mission, I'll feel better about the mistakes we made then. Not before though."

"You carry a lot of weight on your shoulders," noted Kat. "That can't be easy."

"It's not," said Jack. "But what else can I do? It's my job to do and no one else's."

Kat nodded and they both walked in silence for a few more minutes. It was a promising start if anything, and Jack was thankful that she seemed to be willing to talk to him once again. Even though he'd never admit it, he didn't like the fact that they went the entire previous day without interaction. Which was an odd thing in itself for a woman he'd just met.

"Listen," started Kat before half-turning to him. "I wanted to apologize. About the things I said to you the other night. I was so angry with you in the moment that I just wanted to get away." Kat paused for a moment. "But then I started to think more about it and you're right. You had a right to be suspicious, especially after hearing what Melitos admitted to last night."

"I'm sorry too, Kat," said Jack. "I could have gone about it in a different or better way. I've been kicking myself about the way everything happened that night that there could've been a better way to do that."

Kat smiled. "I'm not sure if that's the case. I think that conversation was always going to be a rocky one. I could've handled it better, that's for sure."

"I don't blame you for how you did," said Jack.

They both looked at each other and locked eyes. Jack could lose himself in Kat's beautiful features if he allowed himself to, and he was afraid that she'd be able to sense his deepest thoughts when he locked eyes with her. As if sensing the same thing, she turned away from him quickly, her cheeks inflaming to a dark red hue. Jack chuckled to himself as he turned back to the path.

"Anyway, I just wanted to make sure we're good," started Kat again. "I'm sorry about the last day. You won't hold it against me, will you?"

"I don't know," said Jack with a cheeky smile. "Maybe I should. Maybe I should tell Heron that we shouldn't let you travel with us anymore."

Kat elbowed him in the side. "We can go back to how things were right now if you really want to," she said fiercely.

Jack started to laugh. "Relax, I'm just teasing you. It's a little fun to get you riled up, do you know that?"

She arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "You know, I really wouldn't advise it if I were you."

"Is that right?"

"Mm-hmm," said Kat while flipping some of her blonde hair over her shoulder.

Jack chuckled again. "That seems fair. Just remind me not to get on your bad side anymore? I didn't really care much for the last day and a half either."

"Why's that?" pressed Kat. "Did you like my company that much the other night?"

It was Jack's turn for his cheeks to redden. He said nothing, and everything, at the same time.

"I'm just teasing you now, Jack," said Kat with a giggle. "You're right, this whole riling up thing is a great bit of fun."

Jack groaned. "Great, I created a monster."

She poked his side playfully. "It's all your fault."

"You're lucky I like you," said Jack.

Kat gave him a knowing look. "Am I then?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, I'll take it then," she said firmly.

They walked along for a few more moments in silence. Jack finally felt like the tension had dissipated between them, and he could talk freely once more. The physical tension was still present, and every time Kat's hand brushed up against his own, he felt a small spark of electricity.

Before anything more could be said, they both heard the sound of Vera's laughter from just up ahead. She seemed to be reacting to something that Heron had told her, and the sounds of her voice drifted back to the two of them.

"Vera seems to really look up to you," said Kat quietly. "She likes you a great deal."

"As I do her," said Jack. "She's an interesting girl. She's been through a lot too."

"I've heard," said Kat. "She's told me about her story. I like her a great deal too."

"It's a shame that a sweet girl like her had to find herself whoring. That's not a way to make a life," said Jack.

"It's not like she had much of a choice. The Andalucians are cruel people," said Kat with a shudder. "Best to be avoided as much as possible."

"I'm just glad that we can give her a second chance," said Jack. "Or really, Heron can. He's the one with the standing offer to those girls to live at his palace while they get back on their feet."

Kat started to giggle. "And yet she looks up to you as her personal hero. Why is that?"

Jack felt his ears begin to heat up. "I'm not sure myself. I think her trust is a little misguided in me. It's Heron that deserves the thanks."

"You may need to watch your back with that one," said Kat slyly. "She may look to snatch you up when the time comes."

"Vera? Seriously?" asked Jack with an arched eyebrow.

"You don't see it?"

Jack shrugged. "She just seems so young. I don't think anything could come of that. She's not really the type I'd go for, if that's what you mean."

Kat started to grin, sensing an opening. "So what is your type then? What kind of woman makes Jack Easterbrook hot under the collar?"

"You're really asking me that?" said Jack while giving her a surprised look.

She nodded eagerly. "I want to know!"

He pursed his lips while he thought over his answer. "That's not something I can answer very easily."

"Why not? Just tell me what you like in a partner," said Kat. "I'm curious."

"Why are you so curious about it?"

She blinked. "You do remember my name, don't you?"

Jack started to laugh. "And you know what it did to it, right?'

She elbowed him. "Quit stalling and tell me."

"Fine," said Jack with a huff. "I like . . . intelligence. Someone with brains that I can talk to. Someone that's passionate about something. It could be anything, as long as the passion's there. I like warmth. The type of warmth you get from someone who's nurturing and caring and kind. Of course, I like beauty too. I want to see someone who looks beautiful and stays in my mind all day."

"Mm-hmm, interesting," said Kat. "Very interesting."

"What's so interesting about that?"

"Oh, nothing," she said while flashing a cheesy smile.

"You're almost as much of an enigma as Vera is," said Jack with a laugh.

"It must be because we're Galicians," said Kat before sticking her tongue out.

"You two have such an interesting story. A very similar one too," noted Jack.

"How so?"

"Just in the fact that you had a real tragedy happen to you both that's preventing you from going back home," he said. "I don't know many people that wouldn't take the chance to go home if they were given it."

Kat's entire demeanor began to change. The fun, flirtatious woman she had just been quickly changed to a guarded, stoic exterior. "It's not that simple, Jack," she said quietly.

"I know that. I'm just noting the similarities," he said defensively.

"There's a bit of a difference though," she said. "Vera could go back but she chooses not to. Too painful for her to start over with just herself. I can't go back. I'd be killed if I did."

"Tell me why, Kat. What happened?"

She shook her head quickly. "Maybe someday, Jack. Not right now."

"Then you will tell me someday?"

Kat turned to look at him. "Someday, you'll have to find out."

Jack walked along silently trying to digest her words. What did she mean by that exactly? Someday she'd have to tell him? Or he'd just find out on his own? By the look on her face, he could tell that she was in no mood to explain herself any further, and he simply chalked it up as something that would have to wait until they knew each other a little better. For now, at least.

"I'm not always a wanderer, you know," said Kat out of the blue. She turned to look at Jack with a soft expression. "There is a place where I have a home, even if it's not Galicia."

"Where is that?" asked Jack.

"It's a small island that makes up part of Picardy," said Kat. "I have a small house there that was gifted to me. Even though I don't go there often, it helps to know that I'm not truly homeless."

"What is the house like?"

Kat smiled. "It's more like a cottage. It has light-blue wooden walls, large windows for taking in the sunshine, and palm trees full of coconuts on the grounds. It's not much but it's plenty big enough for just me."

"I keep hearing the name Picardy for a country, but despite your map, I don't know much about it," said Jack. "How far away from here is it?"

Kat's eyes rolled up in thought. "Quite a distance. You'd need to sail north for more than a week before you'd get to the main island that makes up Picardy. The main island is one of the largest ones in this portion of the world, but this tiny island just sits off the western coast."

"How did a young, Galician woman like yourself come to own property in Picardy?" asked Jack with a smile. "Lucky in trade?"

Kat's face turned serious again. "Like I said, it was a gift to my family. One that I'm able to retain. Anyway, that's a home for me when I need one."

"I wouldn't mind seeing it someday," said Jack. "That is, if the invitation is there."

She looked over to him and locked her gaze on his eyes. A smile slowly filled her face. "Maybe. We'll have to see about that."

"You don't make things easy on me, do you?" asked Jack.

Kat giggled. "Where is the fun in easy?"

"You know, now that we're here on the mountain, I don't see our quest going on for much longer here in Sorella," said Jack. "If all goes well and we recover the gold and escort Heron back to his city, it'll be time for us to leave soon."

Kat nodded while listening but otherwise said nothing.

"What will you do then? When we leave?" asked Jack finally.

"Maybe I could come with you on your travels?" asked Kat.

Jack pursed his lips. "I don't know if that would fly with the rest of the crew. It's wartime and there's danger everywhere. You'd be putting your life at risk."

Kat started to laugh. "My life has been at risk every day for the past few years. I'm used to that by now."

"I'm just saying that it wouldn't be easy," said Jack. "There's so much going on in the world right now and most of it's bad. I'd hate to have you onboard and to put your life in more danger than it should be."

Kat shrugged her shoulders. "It was just a suggestion, that's all. Perhaps it's time I did go home for a change. I've been traveling for so long that perhaps I've earned a little vacation time?"

"It doesn't sound like a bad idea," said Jack. "Maybe we could compromise a bit? It sounds like Picardy may be the next closest place for us to look for an alliance. Maybe we could take you there?"

She turned a million-watt smile on him. "Perhaps. If you would do that for me, I'd be very grateful."

"You have yourself a deal then, Kat," said Jack while extending his hand in a playful gesture. She took it and shook it firmly before starting to giggle herself.

"I'm really beginning to like you, Jack," said Kat with total honesty.

"That makes two of us, Kat," he answered in return.